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Sharp-shooting LaBrae tops Tigers
By Doug Chapin
howland
LaBrae High’s excellent shooting trumped Howland’s rebounding dominance Thursday night and the Vikings posted their third straight win, a 67-58 decision on the Tigers’ floor.
“This was a huge win for us. Howland is the best team we’ve played so far,” LaBrae coach Chad Kiser said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys here, and five games in they did a lot of growing up tonight. It was a great team win.”
LaBrae’s scoring attack was balanced with senior forward Jake Jaros leading the way with 17 points. Veteran point guard Matt Szorady added 13 points, Carl Brown had 12, Peyton Aldridge 11 and John Richards eight.
LaBrae (5-1) shot 47 percent (23-for-39) from the floor, including 45 percent (9-for-20) from 3-point range. Howland (3-4), meanwhile, held a 38-19 edge in rebounds, but shot just 36 percent (21-for-58).
“There were a lot of bunnies we missed,” Howland coach Dan Campana said. “We had no touch around the rim, we were right there. On several possessions, we missed a shot and they came down and hit a 3.
“We know they are a good shooting team, but we needed to finish and we can’t let them capitalize every time down the floor.”
Every Viking who saw action recorded at least one assist, and Richards led the way in that category with four.
“We’ve been shooting the ball real well from outside and we have a little bit of height,” Kiser said. “Our versatility does help. We have three or four guys who can handle the ball and we’ve got four guys who can shoot the ball from 3-point range. Our big thing is can we get defensive stops and have intensity on that side and box out.”
T.J. Lanier had 24 points and nine rebounds for Howland and Dontea Dawson chipped in with 14 points and 12 boards.
“Some nights we do some things well and other nights we do other things well,” Campana said about his team’s up and down season. “We need to get it all together and get everyone on the same page.
“Some nights we rebound well, some nights we shoot free throws well and some nights we finish.”
LaBrae led 17-13 after one quarter, 31-26 at the half and 44-42 after three periods, though Howland held a lead at some point during each of the first three quarters.
The Vikings increased their lead to 51-44 three minutes into the last quarter, but the score was 54-50 with 2:30 remaining. LaBrae made seven of 10 free throws in the final 1:14 to put the game away.